March 18, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



245 



plishments — to fall far below tlie ideal set 

 for him by the traditions and history of his 

 calling. 



From the days of St. Luke to this very 

 evening, the profession has recognized its 

 duty and responsibility and in the fullest 

 sense has endeavored to meet them. As 

 steadily and quietly as vs^ater flows, and with 

 the same beneficent effect upon mankind, the 

 work of the medical man has prooeeded 

 through all the ages covered by recorded 

 history. 



At first, service rendered by his own hands 

 to the sufferer — combining the functions of 

 physician, surgeon, nurse and pharmacist; 

 then, with the development of knowledge, a 

 separation of these fields of work; then a 

 cultivation and intensification of the possi- 

 bilities in each field; but always service. 



Always the subordination of his own com- 

 fort; of opportunities for wealth; of leisure; 

 of home life; of public recognition; to the 

 need of serving mankind; and, in instances 

 without number, the sacrifice of life itself in 

 the effort to serve his fellow man; to extend 

 and broaden knowledge, and thereby acquire 

 the means whereby others might live. 



No man dare think or say these things of 

 himself; but if they are to be seen in others, 

 if they form a part of the noble traditions of 

 a profession to which he has been called; if 

 they are of the very character and being of 

 his brothers in that profession, then he may 

 recognize and proclaim them, for they are 

 not only his, they are a portion of the heritage 

 of all mankind. 



The members of this Society permitted no 

 object of personal ambition and no activity 

 of professional life to withhold from our gov- 

 ernment during its hours of stress the de- 

 votion and service due from each citizen. 

 This was proven by the ready response to the 

 government's call for physicians during the 

 recent World War, when more than one 

 fourth of the total number of our doctors 

 enlisted in one or another of the three 

 branches of the service. Of this number 

 three made the supreme sacrifice in giving 

 their lives for their country. 



During the campaign for obtaining funds 

 for the erection of this building it was inter- 

 esting and gratifying to note that when the 

 public became acquainted with the aims and 

 accomplishments of our medical society, it 

 responded promptly and generously to our 

 appeal for financial assistance, and I repeat, 

 that this appeal was not wholly, nor indeed in 

 greater part, for the ultimate benefit of the 

 medical society, for, as I have already shown, 

 the interest of the community and the society 

 are identical. 



Through the influence of this building the 

 standard of medical practise will be elevated. 

 This will come about by additional facilities 

 for scientific research, by lectures with their 

 stimulating discussions, as well as by the pre- 

 sentation of unusual cases and rare specimens. 



The Medical Society of the District of 

 Columbia has the standing of a state society 

 and as such is an integral part of the Amer- 

 ican Medical Association. One of the nine 

 trustees of the American Medical Association 

 who controls the finances and policies of that 

 great organization comjwsed of more than 

 sixty thousand men of the medical profession, 

 is a member of our society. The society also 

 has its representative in the House of Dele- 

 gates of the American Medical Association. 

 It may not be inappropriate to mention in 

 this connection that we are the only state 

 society to hold weekly meetings throughout 

 the year, which in itself increases immeas- 

 urably its sphere of teaching. 



The Medical Society of the District of 

 Columbia was founded September twenty- 

 forth, eighteen hundred and seventeen, and 

 during the one hundred and three years which 

 have elapsed since that time the science of 

 modern medicine has been developed. The 

 society numbers among its members past and 

 present physicians who have made valuable 

 contributions to the development of medical 

 science. 



The membership body of the Medical So- 

 ciety of the District of Columbia comprises 

 every branch of medical science and every 

 age of medical man from the recent graduate 

 to those who through long years of service 



